Hand crimper



Sept. 8, 1970 J. c. RAY 3,526,945

HAND CRIMPER Filed March 7, 1968 INVENTOR 1 J IMMY C. RAY

' US. Cl. 29-212 United States Patent 3,526,945 HAND CRIMPER Jimmy C. Ray, Rte. 2, Box 33, Denison, Tex.

Filed Mar. 7, 1968, Ser. No. 711,266 Int. Cl. B2311 7/10; H0lr 43/04; B21d 11/04 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS Applicant has filed several previous United States patent applications including Ser. No. 525,506, filed Feb. 7, 1966, Group 320, however, he makes no claim of priority at this time.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention This invention relates to crimpers for connectors for electrical conductors, particularly communication wires.

Description of prior art Machines to crimp connectors are known to the art, e.g., Phelps et al., US. Pat. 1,836,497, shows a massive machine for performing this function. Likewise hand crimpers have been known, such as Miller, US. Pat. No. 2,549,838. Also, reference is made to the hand crimpers of the nature of the Over, US. Pat. No. 3,328,871, and Reem et al., US. Pat. No. 3,328,872.

The Miller patent shows a plier-like instrument with a supply of connectors with in a cavity in one of the handles. I

Over and Reem et al.,, illustrate something of a toggle arrangement for forcing the die or hammer against the anvil- Vinson, US. Pat. No. 2,612,932, and Byrem, US. Pat. No. 2,722,146, also show hand-crimpers for performing similar functions.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, a lightweight tool is provided, which, by toggle arrangement plus a lever, moves the hammer against the anvil. A magazine of connectors is contained within a cavity within the handle of the tool. By the unique construction of having the anvil connected into a'loop so that the hammer moves within the loop, a very strong construction is provided, yet the total weight of the tool is kept very light.

An object of this invention is to provide a hand tool to crimp connectors onto wires.

Other objects of this invention are to achieve the above with a device that is sturdy, lightweight, compact, durable, simple, safe, versatile, reliable and efficient, yet inexpensive and easy to manufacture, operate and maintain.

Further objects are to achieve the above with a tool that is safe, rapid, inexpensive and does not require skilled people to adjust, operate, and maintain.

3,526,945 Patented Sept. 8, 1970 ing drawing, the different views of which are not necessarily to the same scale.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a tool according to this invention.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the tool taken on line 2--2 of FIG. 3-.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the tool taken on line-3-3 of FIG. 2.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT loop, with strip of metal 16 extending down one side and strip of metal 18 extending down the other side. These two metal strips 16 and 18 are connected by head 20 and foot 22 and pieces 16, 18, 20, and 22, are an integral casting together with back plate 21. Front plate 23 is attached by screws, as illustrated.

The leg or strip of metal 18 has cavity 2 4 formed therein, forming a container or magazine for a stick of connectors 26. (Connectors 26 are according to the disclosure of Graft et al., U.S. Pat. 3,064,072, which are commercially on the market.) This cavity 24 has a curve so that the connectors are fed to the anvil 14. Door 28 in the foot 22 of the handle 10 opens into the cavity 24 sothat the stick of connectors 26 may be fed into the cavity 24. Spring 30 in cavity 24 is attached to the door 28 and feeds the connectors 26 to the anvil 14.

The connectors 26 are crimped upon a wire by the movement of hammer 32. The hammer is made of steel or other hard metal and is mounted within slot 34 formed between the legs or strips of metal 16 and 18 adjacent to the anvil 14. Hammer toggle arm 36 is pivoted to the hammer and to long toggle arm 38. The long toggle arm 38 and the hammer toggle arm 36 are pivoted together by pivot 37 at about the middle of the long toggle arm 38. The foot end of the long toggle arm 38 is pivoted to car 40, which is formed in the handle and which interconnects the legs 16 and 18. Therefore, it may be seen that when the toggle is closed (i.e., when the pivot between the arms 36 and 38 move in line with the hammer 32 and the car 40) there is extreme pressure extended, forcing the hammer 32 against the anvil 14. Likewise there will be a great deal of pressure forcing the anvil 14 and the car 40 apart. However, inasmuch as the anvil and ear are connected together with the leg of metal 16 on one side and 18 on the other side and the back 21 on the third side, a very strong construction results. The legs 16 and 18 are in tension and have no bending mo ment on either of them. Therefore, a very rigid construction results without thick sections of metal, resulting in a lightweight tool that can be easily carried by the operator.

The head end of the long toggle arm 38 is pivoted by pin 42 to the operating lever 12. Front plate 23 has aperture 44 therein to expose the connector 26 at the anvil 14. The connector 26 will be positioned at the anvil by the action of spring 30.

In operation, the tool is grasped in one hand and wires W held in the other hand. The operator inserts the wires into the connector 26 which is positioned at the anvil 14. He then squeezes operating lever 12 toward the handle 10 causing the long toggle arm 38 to move inward, moving the pivot 37 in line between the car 40 and the anvil 14 thus crimping the connector 26. After the connector is crimped, the operator pulls upon the wires within the connector thus removing that connector from the crimper. The spring 30 forces another connector into position. When the supply of connectors 26 is exhausted from the cavity 24, the door 28 is opened and another stick of connectors 26 is inserted within the cavity 24.

Thus it may be seen that I have provided a lightweight, efiicient tool to crimp connectors.

It will be apparent that the embodiment shown is only exemplary and that various modifications can be made in operation, construction, materials, and arrangement within the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A hand crirnper for crimping a connector onto communication wires comprising:

(a) an elongated handle adapted to contain a plurality of connectors,

(b) an anvil at one end of the handle,

() a hammer mounted for movement toward and away from the anvil,

(d) an operating linkage interconnecting the hammer and handle for forcing the hammer toward the anvil, and

(e) a lever pivoted to the handle and connected to the linkage for operating the linkage,

(f) said handle formed in the shape of a loop so that said anvil at one end of the handle has structural support on two sides thereof,

(g) said linkage extending within said loop for greater strength, and to force the hammer toward the anvil to crimp a tubular connector on a wire.

2. The invention as defined in claim 1 with the additional limitation of (h) said handle having an elongated cavity therein,

(j) said cavity terminating at said anvil,

(k) a spring in the cavity,

(111) said cavity forming means for containing a plurality of connectors.

3. The invention as defined in claim 1 with the additional limitation of said linkage including (h) a hammer toggle arm pivoted to the hammer, and

(j) a long toggle arm pivoted to the handle and pivoted to the hammer toggle arm and pivoted to the lever.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,549,838 4/1951 Miller 29-212 X 2,941,431 6/1960 Christensen et al. 29212 3,064,072 11/1962 Gratf et al. 174-87 3,328,871 7/1967 Over 29203 3,328,872 7/1967 Reem et al. 29-203 3,371,400 3/1968 Edes 29-212 THOMAS H. EAGER, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 29-203 

